Process of smelting ore by means of petroleum



rm Model.) 4 2 Sheets-Shet 1.

P. C. WEBER.

PROCESS OF SMBLTING 0358 BY MEANS OF PETROLEUM 31%. 325 293. PatentedSept. 1 1885,.

ATTORNEY NU Model. T 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. G. WIZBEE.

PROCESS OF SMELTING DEBS BY MEANS OF PETROLEUM P10325293. Patented Sept.1, 1885,

INVENTOR TTORNEY FREDERICK WEBER,

5555 QFSili'iELTiNG Gil-E @Y lr'iEi-ihi CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

iiPEilUYlliGATIGN forming part of Letters Patent .ii'o. 3.2.5.293, datedSeptember 1, 1&85.

A milicmion Qieil May 1685.

T0 aZZ whom it may con/eerie:

Be it known that l, FREDERICK linnnn, a citizen of the United flutes,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cool; and State of lillinois, haveinven'rcfi a certain new a 1d useful Process for Suiclziug Ores by Menusof Petroleum, of which the lollowing is especificution.

The object of my invention is to reduce iron, lend, copper, and otherores byg ascs m l heat produced from the combustion of a mixture ofpetroleum orhydrocarlsou, and coke, churceal, or coal, as described inmy application of June 23, 1884. in doing this 1 feed theperrolcuin'with the hot bios-o in such manner and. in such proportion asto form the require recluction-flmoe, njth excess of air suiiir .ilii tosecure lie coinbusbion of and. fully to util 'iize'ilrc fuel fed withthe ore charges.

in the accompanying drawings I have shown one form of apparatus withwhich my process can be curried into effect, and such process will. hedescribed in connection with said apparatus applied to the smelting ofiron ore; but it rousibe understood that many variations of the form ofupper-ems for intro (lucing the petroleum or carbohydrates on y be madeWithout effecting the process proper 0r dcmrting from the spirit of myinvention.

The apparatus herein shown consists of sundry additions to the mechanismnow in use in blastfurnuccs, and such apparatus may lie readily appliedto such furnaces.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, is a central vertical sectionor"; a blast-furnace and of my uppzrrums for applying petroleum thereto,this figure beingdesignod to show the relative positions of my apparatusto the furnace. Fig. 2 a central vertical section of part of thefurnace, taken through one of the royercs with its blast-pipe throughone of my petroleumburners with its supplypipe Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of one of these petroleum-supply pipes, with its stopcochandmechanism for operating the letter. Fig. 4 is an enlarged View invertical section, taken through one of the tuyercs and through thepetroleum-burner and its supply-pipe. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation, partlyin secrion, of one of (No model.)

my burners and its snpplypipe; anal Fig. is a section taken on line 6 (iof 2.

In carrying my process into effect; is necessary that the petroleum orhy rocarlimns be introduced with the blast in certain delinezi relativeproportions, and for this purpose I provide the mechanism shown in theaccompanying drawings. This mechanism consists, essentially, of areservoir or other suitable provisions for containing one petroleunrsunply, service-pipes having devices whereby the flow of petroleum mayregnluiierlgenrl flevices for properly connecting; the supply-pines withthe bless-pipe or tuyerc.

A represents a section of the smeuingrar: 112cc, this furnace beingsuppliei wish as main water-pipe, B, having branches 31 b, e "ell-ashpipe, (5, inning ore-sch piiics c c, :rni ongreres D. 'lfhetuyere mayhave r isisiiug in its rear well through "which the emi or" the burneris inserted. i

The burner consists of a. pipe. 333, surrounried by a. Water-jacket, F,and may be helcl either upon said burner or upon the Eeyore. The burnerE is provided at its end with suitable orifices through which thepetroleum is admit ted lo the blastvfurnacc.

ments, which may he i'orinezl by custiogsrlivid ing-ri'o,f, sons tooriclge thespace between the inner wallof the water-jacket F the outerwall of the burner. This svaierjuclrciif Ell? rounds the burner to thepoint where the latter is connected wiiil the feedpipe G. 1 pro fertoconnect this fecdpipe with a circular underground main,l',als0 undergrounc. The nruin 1 leads from a feed-rank, J, the level of thepetroleum in which is maintained by flout-. he supply-tank J isconnected with a storugetuuk, K, which latter contains thepetroleum-supply.

I have contemplaietl locating the storage and feed tanks at suchdistance from the furnace that all danger of explosion of the petroleumis avoided. The service and supply pipes should also be surrounded withwaterjuckete Where there is danger from fire. The petroleum is held at alevel above the point where the burner enters the tuycre, and is lpreferto mekethe ater-jacket F in two horizontal compar s- 7 o flees. Itis evident that the shape or form of maintain the permeability of thedescending charge to the ascending gases, and reduce the carbonic acid.in the reduction-flame to car- 7 bonous oxide. The-sum of thc carhonousoxide in the ascending furnace-gases constitutes the principal reducingelement in the smelting operations.

In operation the furnace is prepared and 7 charged with the ore, thefluxes, and a limited quantity of solid carbon in the usual way. Animportant point to consider While blowing in is, that: at the pointofsubstitution of onehalf of petroleum, in usinga hot blast of usual 80caused toilow through the orifices of the burner by its own weight or bythe suction induced by the blast. This level is maintained by the useot'a float, j, which is soarraugcd as to opcrate a valve in the pipeleading from the storage to thc feed tank, and is such that the head ofthe liquid shall overcome the presu re in the furnace. The operation ofthis float will be readily understood from an inspection is of thedrawings.

The supply-pipe G and burner E are connected by a coupling, 9. Belowthis coupling, pipe G is provided with a stop-cock, I, which may be anordinary plugvalve with an aperr5 ture of any suitable form. The plug ofthis stop-cock is provided with a lever, M, which.

high unless regulated. This can be readily obviated by graduallylowering the temperais made to swing in front of an arc-dial, O, ture ofthe blast, and again increasing it as the latter being marked with agraduated the substitution of more than halfprogrcsscs, 3 scale. Bymeans of this lever and arc-dial the I thus maintaining a fairly uniformdegree of amonntof hydrocarbons admitted through the heat throughout thehearth during the blowburner may be accurately regulated or deter ingin. When. the furnace is prepared and mined. A ball-valve, P, is placedwithin the pipejnst above the stopcock, and as the head of oil allowsthe petroleum to flow up to a 2 stated pressure in the furnace, thisball-valve trolcuni is admitted, as before statcd,,in reguautomatieallychecks all flow in excess ofthis latcd quantities, and is forced by itsown the charges are being put in, the quantity of l pressure. weight ordrawn by the hot blastinto the l l l l l solid fuclmay be graduallyreduced and peo,

troleum admitted to take its place. The pe- The part which I havedenominated the tuyerc, in which it is converted into gas, in 95burner(markedEinthedrawings) consists which form it enters the furnace.The sub of a pipe which is cylindrical in form up to stitutionofpetroleum or hydrocarbon forsolid the point where it enters thetuycrc. At this carbon may he carried forward until only such point theform of pipe changes froin' he cylinquantity of olid carbon is retainedas will temperature, the heat of the hearth is too drical to the oval.The burner terminates in l carburize the reduced iron and maintain thetoo a mouth or orifice, N. The castings which form'the walls of themouth or orifices of the burner may be cored out, and through thesechambers thus formed the water flows from the lower to the uppercompartment. thus cooling the burner and the walls'ot' theoripermeahility of the descending mass, 850.

In order to i'naintain a uniform flow of potroleum through the stopcockL, therctardation of the flow of the liquid, caused by the friction inthe service-pipes, should be coinr05 pensatcd for by making theservice-pipes of increased diameter according to their length. theburner and its orifices inay be consider- The fuel and reducing agentsnow in com' ablyvariedwithoutaffcctingtheresultssought men use toperform the usual operations of to be accomplished bythem. All that isnccblast furnaces are coke, coal, and charcoal. [to essary to beobserved in the construction of I These are bin-nod and utilized insuch'a way these burners, as well as of the surroumlilw that carbonicacid is nrinci lZLllV formed beh l i l l l l l gs'termlned quantity ofpetroleum may bc apl acid. The-other half is utilized for adding l l l ilhis carbonic acid is prompt ly reduced to carhonous oxide by coming incontact with incandescent carbon, and then, 115 while ascending throughthe charges, performs the required operations of reductions, formingslags, X112, by decompositions, recoup binatious, heating, the, asdesired. About one half the carbon of the coke furnace passes 120through the hearth, principally as carbonic water-jackets, is that theconstruction be such as to permit a regular flowaud avoid thepossibility of melting.

I have described butone burner; but it will of course be understoodthat; each tuycre has its burner, and each burner receives itspetrolenm'supply from the circular-main ll through pipes similar topipes By means of the above apparatus a predefore the tuycrcs.

plied to the hot blast in each of the tuycres. The petroleum thusadmitted to mingle with the blast is converted into a gaseous form assoon as it enters the tuyerc, and its combos 6o ti n is simultaneouswith its volatilization.

the moleculeof free carbon required to reduce carbonicaeid to carbonousoxide, and theheat produced by the combustion of the solid fuel 12;,plus the artificial temperature of the blast performs the operationswithin the hearth. The amount of solid carbon necessary to be Theintensity and quantity oithe heat in the used in the practical operationof a furnace i body of the furnace, and which performs the Wnerepetroleum is used as the principal fuel operations there, is that of.the temperature of 1 0 will vary with the character of the or s opcrthecarbononsoxide plus that of the blast not ated upon and the petroleumused; but in all previously consumed in the'hcarth, and also cases suchan amount of solid carbon should of the chemical reactions which obtainbetween be retained as will earburize the reduced iron, l the materialsof the charges.

2 from one to the other 0 the lining 6o tied by the pressure,

6'5to carbonic acid in air 10 by just 'so much as the carbon ted withthe ore-charges will increase the volume of the carbonic acid byreducing it to earbonous oxide, and this reaction doubles the volume ofthe carbonic acid so reduced. Allowance 1 must of course be made forvarying conditions of the air in making the calculations.

In calculating the relative diameters required oi the hearth and body01' a petroleum blast-furnace, the volume of the gases passing and thechanges in their composition as affecting their volumes must be agoverning factor. In a coke-furnace the carbonic acid of the hearthverted to carbonous oxide at and above the 2 boshes, this reactiondoubling the volume of.

the carbonic acid, as above stated, and about onehalt'of the carbon goesthrough the hearth. For this reason the furnace is enlarged at the bellyabove the hearth; otherwise the tension of the gases would prevent thedescent of the charges and choke up the l'nrnace. troleum-l'urnaoe usingpetroleum principally, about three-fourths 01'. all the fuel passesthrough the hearth, and threet'ourlhs of the In a pccarbon is carbonousoxide, so that the increase in volume is sc' nuch less.v This willnecessitate an increased diameter for the hearth and a more obtuse angleforthe boshes. The bene fits arising 'lromfthis, will be that the wearof of the furnace-walls will be far less, and it will also all'ord alarger space within the hearth for the reduction Jlamesl Thefurnacelining can be further prcservedby reducing the temperature of theblast, for,-

inasmuch as a coke-furnace works best with a hotblast, and consequentlya hot hearth, it does so because that determines a hot body, and so hotore, upon which. the reducing-gases act most promptly; but asiin apetroleum-tur- 0 nace the heat rendered latent ihrless, the

body is still hotter, even taough the temperature of the blastislowered', which in turn lowcrs the temperature of the hearth.

The burning of the carbon within the cokefurnace hearth to carbonic aciddetermines and performs the operationsol' I he hearth, and the degreeand intensity of the heat in this space is that of burning carbon .tocarbonic acid plus the temperature of the blast modilosscs by radiation,(:C.

As a comparison of the heat produced by the different methods of usingsolid and liquid fuels in combination or solid fuel alone, that degreeof heat produced by burning carbon unit, as almost all the carbon of acokefurnace burned bel'ore the tuycres is burned to rn the petrolcu hito the is promptly conwill furnish a fair tor;

compounds. These eomhydrocarbons to a rednetion-fiame Having a petroleumcontaining eighty-tour per cent. carbon, ten percent. h ydrogen,and SIXper cent. impurities, which, burning seventy-five per cent. of thecarbonto carbonous oxide,.twentyfive per cent. to carbonic acid, and thehydrogen to water, the sum or degree of heat produced will be that ofthese elements so bu'rning." Taking-for example, one hundred pounds ofsuch a petroleum, we would have for so burning, twenty-one poun s ofcarbon for carbonic acid, sixty-three pounds for carbonous oxide, andten pounds of hydrogen for water, and the impurities modifying theresult in a measure. ble of producing an even four times as much heat asan equal weightof carbon, and accept-v ing that carbon burning to iscapable ot'produeing a heat of 1,310 centigrade, we would have thefollowing result,

mathematically 2,45S 21:51,6l8.;1,3IOX63,

: 82,530; 2,45S 4 1'0:98,32Q, making ato tal of 232,168 units, which,being divided'by 94, gives 2,558 eentigrade. This calculation Acceptingthat hydrogen is cap-a earbonous oxide IOC gives centigrade more for thepetroleumfurnace, resulting fuel-in the hearth. This is modified,however, being'lower, because hydrogen requires from the combustionofthe more air -for combustion than carbon, and so imparts more heat tothe increased volume of .the nitrogen oil the blast;

It is plain that as the heat as here calculated is only anapproximation, every advantage can be taken ot'raising and lowering thetemperature and press ure ol' the blast to attain in the furnaceoperations.

The blast will be heated with t-llB'WtlStG gases of thepetroleum-furnace just in the the required results same manner as from acoke or charcoal furnaee. The same plant as now used for a furnace usingcoke or charcoal may be used to utilize petroleum with simply theaddition of prope'r tanks and attachments as required by the alteredconditions. The-furnice-g ases of apetroleum blast-furnace will vary incomposition and in volume from a coke-furnace in that they will containmore nitrogen and war but'this will be immaterial when taking intoconsiderationthat but a Fraction of the sum of the fuel can be replaced,and that coke and charcoal also contain hydrogen and water, whilepetroleum contains practically no water as such. 'The hydrogen products,of combustion being water are practically neutral in thechemical'rcactions of reduction of I more heatingeleroent and as affect.ing the rel ed capacity of the furnace and size of the tuyeres, burners,and. blow-pipes.

temperature oi the petroleum-furnace ahorethe hearth will be higher thanin a cokefurnace, because the amount of heat rendered latent byconverting the fully amount of car tonic acid to carbonous oxide of thesolid fuel greater, the amount iron of hygroscopic water and moisture,and one to twelve per cent of combined hydrogen and oxygen. ihen the ashoi the solid fuel must be fluxed and melted and the moisturevolatilized, so that from ten to twenty per cent. of

the value of the solid fuel is consumed in get ting rid of the containedimpurities. Consequently only from sixty to eighty per cent, by weight,of the solid fuelis'utilized in the furnace economy. Petroleum containsas impurities only a little dirt and water, with. some sulphur. Thewater and dirt, settling to the bottom of the storage-tanks, are mostlyremoved, and do not go through the furnace at all, so that petroleum maybe considered as being practically a pure fuel. As a very lio- 8 5 oralgeneral estimate, a colrciurnace now requiring one and one-half ton ofcoke to make one ton of pig-iron would require about one third ton ofcoke and about three-fourths ton of petroleum.

in making the various grades of pig-iron, similar methods as nowemployed will apply. The quality of the iron from a petroleunriuu' nacewill be most excellent, as the higher temperature of the zone ofcarbonization will fa- 5 vor iull carbonization. Then the reduced iron,because of falling through a mixture of gases in which there is a largerquantity of the redusing-gas carbonous oxide, it will not lose itscarbon; and, further, the slags will be more basiewith the iron morefully carburized, a smaller amount of silica will be reduced tocontaminate the iron with silicon. As petroleum contains scarcely atrace of phosphorus,

this element will be present in less quantity in the iron. The sulphurwill be for less because of the large quantity 0!: hydrogen present inthe furnaoegnses. This will tend to form sulphureted hydrogen, whichwill go oil with the waste gases, as will also the phosphorus. The datrlcontained in the above will furnish the formula; for determining therelative di' mensions of'a furnace and its parts, the size of thetuyercs required and their burners, the

just the diil'e rencc between F to carbonic acid or carbonous LGffurnaces, which obwhere the reduction to can oe 1 ace, being highest inz-etroleo. nrna Above these zones it uin hes in the petroleurn-furna 2e,nearer to that of a colic-fun are continuhea to the descending losses byradiation. The perrill. have the advantage of a tion of heat from. thebottom furnace, and will be ind ecially with benefit in the zones ofcartonisation and reduction. "he ultimate a is obtained from likeamounts carbon alilcemhether obtained no echo, 2 rcoai, or petroleum.The heat o "ulated and utilized from these Various es oxide at and abovethe reduction to carhonous oxide within *e. The carbon almost completelyto aside in both classes the same within ng only in the manner.

will have to be al.- changed conditions. The V of furnace being let berendered more basic es the fact that the "h will have to enter,

tered to thercixture to produce the desired The petroleum-blastfurnaceprocess l proceed more regularly and rapidly, tocause there will he slagand slagiorsn lug route l to'mechanically interfere with the r on ofreducing-gases on the ore, and no guid fuel beingfully under controlquired mixtures for conducting smelting operations.

in blowing iu a petroleum blast-furnace the same precautions of properlypreparing the the cunt of fuel required per ton of iron 7 A l. l morenearly correspond with furnace must be taken aswith a coke-furnace.

The charging can begin either wholly with solid fuel, the petroleum flownot being turned on until the furnace is fully under way, and l or i doabout four times the petroleum gradually substituted until the Jneating' theme-charges, practical limit is reached; or-the petroleum :25ng siege and reduced iron, keeping orumay be used in part at once andthe limit oi le hot. (366., and leave the carbonous oxide its mostadvantageous substitution gradually formed from the carbon of thepetroleum and reached That this can be done is seen from the free carbonfed with the charges to perthe feet that in either case all the carbonfrom sat called for theoretically. The ten per (or more) of ydrogen ofthe petroleum cing four times as niuch heat amount of blast-power andblast, and the re- :15

form their proper work of reducing iron oxide the petroleum is burned tocarbonic acid until 1 0 excess in the blast. After that itgoesthroughcarbons, and burning the hydrocarbon to car to carbonic acid and.water.

. fraction al in part as carbonous oxide, and the solid carbon is ofcourse diminished in proportion.

In thus using hydrocarbons the proportions of the charge will varyaccording to, the charaeter of the petroleum, the kind of ore used, andof her specialcircumstances, as explained above; but as an example foran iron ore charge having a fifty-five per cent. ore with siliciousgangne I give the following: two hundred parts of iron ore, one hundredand twenty parts petroleum, forty parts coke, and fifty parts limestone.A fraction of the solid fuel is also replaced in smelting by crudepetroleum or other hydrocarbons for the purpose of desnl phurizing anddephospl-iorizing the ores. This does not apply to smelting puresnlphurets, like iron pyrites, but only to such ores as charged forsmelti ng in blast-furnaces, innvhich sulphur and phosphorus are presentas im purities up to a few percent. 'ihis is accomplished by usingonehalf or less of hydro bonie acid and water, these gases being formedand introduced with the blast, and l'erminga portion of thefurnace-gases, and thesmclting, desulphu'rizing, and dephosphor izingbeing performed during nus one operation of smelting. The effectiveagent performing the desnlphnrivzizg and dcphosphorizin is thowatcrofthe burned hydroca *bons, this water acting either as superheated steamor as nascent hydrogen formed, owing to its decomposition, byincandescent carbon. This desulphnrizing and dephosphorizing obtainswhen substituting crude petroleum in any pro portion whatever for solidfuel.

The reasons for these reactions is the varying chemical affinities ofthe elements, the ex.- planation being about as follows: Pure hydrogengas will promptly reduce iron oxides, the oxides being heated; but itwill not do so if there is present in the hydrogen any of the carbonoxides. Carbonous oxide will reduce oxides-of iron promptly in. presenceof hydrogen gas or water-vapor, thccxides being heated. Carbonousoxidewill also reduce iron oxide l1l-1)lQStllC0 of. carbonic acid if thecarbonons oxide is in excess.- \Vatcnva poi-as superheated steam,ordeeomposed, having formed nascenthydrogen, will decompose compounds ofsulphur or phosphorus, form-' ing sulphureted and phosphoretedhydrogcns, respectively, in thepresenccof carbon oxides. Now, theseconditions are present 'while partially substituting hydrocarbons forsolid fuel with the blast and. burning th hydrocarbons All hydrocarbonscan be so burned,whether solid, liquid, orgasc ens. They can be burnedto carbonic acid, water, and carbonons oxide, or to carbonir. acid andwater, but can in no case whatever be burned to earbonons oxide andwater, because of the difference in t-heailinity between the carbon andoxygen, and the carbon and hydrogen, and the hydrogen and oxygen. Forthis reason, complete substitution of petroleum or hydrocarbons forsolid fuel is a practical impos sibility, and this because theever-present carbonic acid is an oxidizing agent, and so retards allreduction.

tVhen smelting with the object of making better iron, less than half ofliquidfnel should be used and enough free carbon additional be fed withthe ore-charges to utilize the carbonic acid as earbonons oxide, thecarbonic acid taking part in'thcse operations the same as if formed fromsolid fuel within the hearth of the furnace. The temperature of theblast must also be regulated to suit the requirements of each individualcase, according to the amountof hydrocarbon substituted, so as to avoidwasting the furnace-lining. In thus using hydrocarbons the proportionsof the charge will vary according to the character of the petroleum, thekind of ore used. and other special circumstances, as explained above;but as an example for an iron-ore charge, having a fifty-five percentore with silicious gangue, I give the following: Two

hundred parts of iron ore, one hundred and twenty parts coke,twenty-five parts'petro- 'lcum, fifty partslimestone.

It has long been known that superheated steam would desulphurizc anddephosphorize iron ores, and also dephosphorizc molten iron in theBessemer converter,.bnt owing to diffieul-ties experienced inintroducing the steam into the converter, or with the blast, it has beenonly a partial success. Introducing steam directly into an ironblast-furuacc in this way causes large losses of heat, and so seriouslyinterferes by retarding operations that it has been abandoned. Recently,also, L am informed, iron ores have been subjected to the action ofsuperheated steam in reverberatory furnaces, and then smelting theso-treated ores. This necessitates two operations, and has the furtherdisadvantage of again introducing the same impurities by means of thesolid fuel and fluxes now used in smelting, which, during the oneoperation, while formingsteam from the crude pretrolcum or hydrocarbonsby-their burning, are expelled not only from the ores but from both thefluxes and solid fuel. In utilizing crude petroleum as last abovedescribed, it is burned to'a mixture of water and carbonic acid withsuch excess of blast as will utilize the solid fuel fed with the ore.The water formed during this combustion does not cause a loss of heat,but, on the contrary, is a source ofheat and aids the furnace operationsby so much. The proportion of hydrocarbons 'and 'solid fuel to be used,while using principally solid fuel, will vary-with the eharacteroftheores, lluxes, and solid fuel of each case.

I do not consider that ten per cent. or less of solid fuel can be usedpractically in my process, because of thevaitinities of the differentelements: hence the proportions will always be more than ten per cent.of solid to less than ninety per cent. ofliquid fuel. iron contains fromfive to eight per cent. of carbon, which iscalculated as coming fromPigsolid fuel, and this alone calls for over ten per cent. of solid fuelA s above sh own, I am ewareihai: eziperi menis have bceninnrle toreduce iron and other ores by means ofe finnie ofpeivrcleumorhydrocnrbon vapor; also thnmsmell ofcarhon has been mixed Wi th ironore 2m (1 th e charge red need by means of peirolenm; hut theseinstances the amount of solid fuel has not ceen sufficientto perform thereducing operations of she blush furnace process; nor do I claim themere nee of petroleum us a fuel for the smelt ing oi. ore, only whenused in connection with soliii or ee carbon and in such relativeproporiiims thethe burning of the hue will i'urnish iiiiQ-Efhfll redreuncing-guses, lnlso discinimilie oi 65 earn es an aid in the combushepeiroienin, and my process is also u the coin piete burning of thepetroso as to produce n mini-ureof carbonic an cnrhonous oxides, vaporof water, and other gases, anal so to utilize these gases by thenddihion or use of the proper amount of or free carbon to furnish flruereducrequired in the li ing of ores; i now disclaim nil processesoperating w or on different principles i 'nrenc. to cover ihe use of gasonly as efuel, hut-only petroleum or liquid rocerhons when inizrciiwith. soliri fuel in such n array that ilheliquill fuel will bevolatiliizeci simultaneously, and 1106 first ertcii into n ilo nfierwnrlused as afnel; and I also disclaim thcusc of wood as a solid fuel.

I do not now claim the uppnruius shown for carrying out my process, thesome being the subjechinatber of an upplicni-ion iiled by me January1?), 1855.

I clnin l. The process of smelting ore, which consists in charging thefurnace with one hundred parts of ore, proper fluxes, 21116 from sixteento forty parts of free carbon, and injecting from sixty-five to fortyparts of crude petroleum with, air, and regulating the amount of air toproduce a, non-oxidizing flanie,the proportions of free carbon andpetroleum varying relatively within said limits as required by thevarying compositions of the petroleum or 0thcr circumstances,substantinllyus described.

53. The process of smelting iron ore, which consists in charging hundredparts of ore, proper fluxes, and from fifteen to sixty parts of freecarbon, and re ducing the mass by a flenic produced by the burning ofcrude petroleum or liquid hydrocarbons injected with sufficient air toproduce a. non-oxidizing flame, the amount of the liqu'ni zuel beingdetermined and regulated by the varying composition of the ore, solidand liquid fuehor other circumstzuiecs, substantially as described.

FREDERICK C. VVEBEE.

Witnesses:

EPHRAIM EARNING, THOMAS A. BANNINU.

the furnace with one- V

